Vaping for Beginners

Why & How To Prime A Vape Coil

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    What is a Vape Coil?

    Nowadays, most e cigs or vape kits that are 'open systems' (i.e. with a refillable tank) feature replaceable 'atomizer heads'. These are often just referred to as 'coils' and contain the coil wire and wicking material. The wick soaks up the e-liquid and the coil wire heats the juice up and turns it into vapour. Most coils contain either cotton or ceramics as the wicking material.

    What Does Priming a Coil Do?

    Priming a coil simply means allowing time for e-liquid to fully saturate the wicking material in your coil head. This will stop the wick from burning when you activate the battery. This is also known as a 'dry hit', which tastes pretty awful. If you've experienced a dry hit, then you'll know what we mean!

    Please note that you will only need to prime a vape coil the very first time you use it. Make sure you follow the below steps whenever you go to use a new coil.

    You can find out more about how often you should replace your coils later on in this guide.

    How to Prime a Vape Coil

    To prime a new coil, simply fill your tank with e liquid and leave it to stand for a few minutes before vaping. As above, this will allow the cotton inside your new coil to absorb plenty of e-liquid ready for that first, tasty vape.

    Alternatively, you can drip your vape juice directly into the cotton in the airholes in your coil then leave it for a few minutes. You can then screw the coil back into your tank and fill it with e-liquid.

    How Long Should You Prime a Vape Coil For?

    It's always recommended to leave your coil to prime for as long as possible - anywhere between 5-30 minutes. The longer you leave it the better, but most coils should be ready to vape after around 5-10 minutes.

    Due to the viscosity of the ingredients, e liquids with a higher PG content will take less time to saturate a coil. Those with a higher VG content tend to be thicker and will take longer. Find out more about e liquid ingredients here.

    E-Liquid bottle & coil - how to prime a vape coil

    How to Prime Your Coils Faster

    There are a couple of things you can to do to help speed up the priming process a little. Drip some e liquid directly onto the cotton through the air holes in your coil before installing it in the tank. Help pull the e liquid through the cotton by inhaling sharply through the mouthpiece a few times. Make sure you don't activate the battery whilst doing this! If your tank has airflow adjustment, keep it almost fully closed whilst you inhale.

    Depending on your e-liquid and vape setup, the above steps alone might not be enough to saturate the coil. Therefore we still recommend leaving the tank to sit for a few minutes.

    How Often Should You Replace A Coil?

    This varies greatly on the type of vape juice you are using, your device settings, how heavily you vape and the specific coils you are using. Most manufacturers work hard to make their coils last as long as possible, but some are better than others.

    We usually recommend replacing your coil at least once per month. However, depending on the above, you may find you need to change it weekly, or every other week.

    If you notice that your e liquid doesn't taste so great, you are getting a burnt flavour when vaping or the cotton in your coil has significantly darkened, it's probably time for a fresh coil.

    You can find out more about when & how to replace a coil here.

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